After Super Cup flops, Federation Cup set to replace Durand at start of next season

Panaji: Concerned with the poor response for its season-ending Super Cup despite offering a continental spot for the winners, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) has now decided to slot the tournament at the start of the season.
The AIFF is also likely to revive the Federation Cup, Indian football’s premier cup competition started in 1977, until it was set aside to make way for the newly-launched Super Cup in 2018.
The latest edition of the Super Cup concluded in Bhubaneswar on Saturday with FC Goa edging past Jamshedpur FC 3-0. Only two of the 12 I-League teams took part while Churchill Brothers pulled out in protest, leaving just 15 teams to compete in a knockout format.
While discussing matters related to the AIFF competition calendar last month, the AIFF executive committee unanimously decided to interchange the scheduling of the Federation Cup/Super Cup and the Durand Cup. While the federation’s own tournament will be held at the start of the season, likely in Sept, the Durand Cup has now been allotted a slot at the end of the season.
The League committee which met last week has approved the Federation Cup to be played before the Indian Super League (ISL) and I-League kicks off.
“Whenever held at the end of the season, the Super Cup has received poor response,” said a senior AIFF official. “In Kerala (2023), most teams were not at full strength and did not take the tournament seriously. Even now in Bhubaneswar, two teams sent their reserve sides and three didn’t have more than a couple of foreign players. This tournament is prestigious, with the champions getting the chance to play in Asia. If held at the start of the season, the response will be much better.”
The Super Cup involves participation of all teams from the top-tier ISL and qualifiers from the I-League.
Meanwhile, India coach Manolo Marquez has suggested that there should be at least one club competition exclusively for domestic players.
“In Spain, the Cup tournament, in seventies and eighties was being played without foreigners, only with Spanish players. I would like one competition only with Indian players. I think that would be good. I spoke about this, but they (AIFF) did completely the opposite, allowing clubs to field their full quota of (six) foreign players,” Manolo said after guiding FC Goa to a Super Cup triumph on Saturday.